conflict

Problematizing Cyber Warfare

10 May 2015

Problematizing Cyber Warfare
Helga Tawil-Souri Editorial This special issue of CyberOrient engages with the relationships between "cyber" and "real" battlespaces, the mediatization of war, the need to expand our definition of warzones, and the importance of asking who participates in wars, to what ends, using what kinds of technologies, and for what purposes. Taken together, the five essays demonstrate the expansion and blurring of the spaces of war. As importantly, they…

Editorial

Violence and Visibility in Contemporary Syria: An Ethnography of the “Expanded Places”

10 May 2015

Violence and Visibility in Contemporary Syria: An Ethnography of the “Expanded Places”
Donatella Della Ratta Article This article reflects on the relationship between visibility and violence as redefined by the combined action of warfare and networked communication technologies. Drawing on the author's own ethnography conducted in Syria in 2010, and on anonymous YouTube videos, it introduces the concept of “expanded places” to look at sites that have been physically annihilated; yet, at the same time, they have been re-animated through multiple…

Article

The Shifting Nature of Cyberwarfare in Middle Eastern States

10 May 2015

The Shifting Nature of Cyberwarfare in Middle Eastern States
Emily Fekete Article While some theorists make the claim that “kinetic and traditional military power are losing importance to symbolic and media power,” in reality the present military situation is complicated by the variety of tactics used by both governments and civilians in multiple and overlapping war zones. The Middle East has recently been the center of enormous military and media attention regarding the use of many forms…

Article

Visual Representation, Propaganda and Cyberspace: The Case of the Palestinian Islamist Movements

10 May 2015

Visual Representation, Propaganda and Cyberspace: The Case of the Palestinian Islamist Movements
Attila Kovacs Article The article analyzes the changing position of the visual representation in the context of Islam from the starting point set up in the Qur’an and more specifically in the prophetic tradition to the theoretical positions of Islamic reformism and radicalism and the practice of Islamism movements. To understand this changing relationship is crucial for the research of ideology and propaganda of the contemporary Islamist movement.…

Article

Presenting the Glossy Look of Warfare in Cyberspace – The Islamic State’s Magazine Dabiq

10 May 2015

Presenting the Glossy Look of Warfare in Cyberspace – The Islamic State’s Magazine Dabiq
Christoph GĂŒnther Comment Since Ramaឍān 1435 (June/July 2014), the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (dawlat al-islāmiyya, IS), the ‘State of the Caliphate’ (dawlat al-khilāfa), publishes a periodic magazine entitled Dabiq. This glossy outlet, produced and distributed by al-កayāt, one of the movement’s media organizations, is widely disseminated on the Internet and forms part of IS’s advancement in the field of the media. Published in English and other European languages, it…

Comment

Mythical Roots, Phantasmic Realities and Transnational Migrants: Yemenis Across the Gulf of Aden

10 Nov 2012

Mythical Roots, Phantasmic Realities and Transnational Migrants: Yemenis Across the Gulf of Aden
Samson A. Bezabeh Article This article analyzes the relationship between transnational migration, state-based religious cosmologies and new electronic media. It illustrates the way mythical realities and a Christian cosmology have structured the existence of the Yemeni diaspora. In analyzing the way mythical realities have been deployed, I seek to understand how old ways of creating boundaries have been redeployed in electronic landscapes. Much has been written regarding the interface…

Article

The Islam-Online Crisis: A Battle of Wasatiyya vs. Salafi Ideologies?

10 May 2011

The Islam-Online Crisis: A Battle of Wasatiyya vs. Salafi Ideologies?
Mona Abdel-Fadil Article Islam Online has been one of the most prominent and stable Islamic websites since it was founded in 1997. However, in March 2010 Islam Online suffered a major crisis, which has come to be known as 'the IOL-Crisis'. This is a suitable case for exploring whether multiple layers of authority are at play in online religious communities(Campbell 2007). At the time of the crisis, I…

Article

Overcoming the Digital Divide: The Internet and Political Mobilization in Egypt and Tunisia

10 May 2011

Overcoming the Digital Divide: The Internet and Political Mobilization in Egypt and Tunisia
Johanne Kuebler Article The potential of the Internet as a political tool intrigues scientists and politicians alike. Particularly in the Middle East, the most frequent narrative is that the mere availability of alternative sources of information will empower political actors that are marginalized by the traditional media controlled by authoritarian regimes. Indeed, the protest movements in authoritarian countries interact creatively with this new medium to get their message…

Article